1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to digital data processing, and, more specifically, in certain embodiments, to managing an endian mode of an electronic device or system.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of computing, pattern recognition tasks are increasingly challenging. Ever larger volumes of data are transmitted between computers, and the number of patterns that users wish to identify is increasing. For example, spam or malware are often detected by searching for patterns in a data stream, e.g., particular phrases or pieces of code. The number of patterns increases with the variety of spam and malware, as new patterns may be implemented to search for new variants. Searching a data stream for each of these patterns can form a computing bottleneck. Often, as the data stream is received, it is searched for each pattern, one at a time. The delay before the system is ready to search the next portion of the data stream increases with the number of patterns. Thus, pattern recognition may slow the receipt of data.
Computing hardware, such as hardware that performs the pattern recognition tasks noted above, may interface with a number of other devices. For example, pattern recognition hardware may be coupled to various processors, such as different types of microprocessors. These different types of microprocessors may interpret and store a sequence of data differently than one another. For instance, some microprocessors or other devices may operate in a “big-endian” mode, in which the most significant portions (e.g., the most significant byte in a big-endian byte order mode) of a data sequence is to be read, stored, and interpreted first. Other microprocessors or devices may operate in a “little-endian” mode, in which the least significant portions (e.g., the least significant byte in a little-endian byte order mode) of the data sequence is to be read, stored, and interpreted first. As the proper functioning of such devices may rely on the order in which they interpret data, the system will often be designed to translate, via hardware or software, data received from or being sent to such a device. Such translation by the system, however, is believed to add to system design costs and may impact system performance.